Parliament of New Zealand

Levin Daily Chronicle, 28 July 1917, Page 3

Parliament of New Zealand

- MEMBERS' QUESTIONS ANK> MlNisims' UKI I/:-> Mr N'osworthly (Ashburton) to ask the Prime Minister Whether his attention has been drawn to certain , words used in an article published in the Now Zealand Tablet "(the official organ of the Roman Catholic Church) jon Thursday, sth July, 1917, over the signature of "Edward Thomas, Bishop of Limerick," and whether the Government will take steps to prosecute the above-mentioned journal for sedition, the words being as follows: "The. ovil work of statesmen and newspaper writers has produced a coarse, black, brutal hatred of Germany and Germans that makes the war more like the deadly struggle of wild beasts than a combat amongst men. That temper is now the great obstacle to peace. In the present frame of mind of the English people, and, I am sorry to say, of many Irish, no abuse, no insult, no falsehood is considered too gross to hurl at the German. We hear no admission that, there is anything to be said for them—that they are of the same nature as ourselves; that in their immense industries and growing iommerce they have given pledges to the peace of the world; that possibly there may bo some truth in their claim that they are fighting a war of self-defence; that for fourty-four years, from 1870-1914, they had never done an act of aggression against any country, a claim which neither England, France, nor Russia oan claim for itself?" (Notei-—The time has arrived when the Protestants of this Dominion demand of the Government •that they take steps to deal drastically with this sort of literature out further delay.)

Tho Rt. Hon. Mr Massoy (Prime Minister) replied: Such paragraphs as are referred to are ilkadvised and tend to cjncou-rago sectarian bitterness. They arc therefore to be deprecated, especially at a time like this, when all sections of the community should endeavor to present a united front to the common enemy. It is to be remembered, tlion^rJi. that the panagrapb has been quoted with approval by one individual tho editor of the publication quoted above). lam confident there are not many who will agree with him. The question as to whether this constitutes a seditions utterance will be referred to the Crowi> Law olEccrs-

'Mr W. H. Field (Otaki) to ask the -Minister of Defence whether it is corrcct >tiliat (promotion of non-commis-sioned officers are made entirely on

the recommendation of officers commanding companies, which recommendation is invariably approved by the higher command, and whether, if this is tho method of promotion, it would not be fairer if the men were put to a test by eramination as to tlheir efficiency. Tho Hon. Sir J. Allen, replied: (1) N.0.0.s in camp is as follows: During The present system of selection o) tho fourth week of training any man of the draft may apply to be transferred to the NVO.O. class Selections to fill the vacancies (one hundred) are then made from applicants by a fcoard consisting of two officers from the camp training staff and two officers from the Administrative staff. The selected applicants are then , transferred to tlie training class for a three months' course, before being posted to a. draft as N.C.O.s in charge of men. Any men found unsuitable during the course of preliminary training are returned to. tho ranks. The officers commanding companies have 110 sav in the selection of N.0.0.s for the preliminary training class, nor is an examination considered advisablo (2) N.C.O.'s are promoted from a lower N.C.O. rank to a higher "N.C.O, rank 011 the recommendation of officers commanding companies. This is part of tho duty of every officei commanding a company

I throughout the British Army. It is not considered advisable to alter the i present system, an din any case it would be quite impossible for the small training staff available for duty in the camps to undertake thei enormous amount of extra work involved by the change suggested by. the honorable member. I would add that every officer commanding a comlpany is most careful in the matter of the selection of N.C.O.s as his success in handling his company is dependent on his good judgment in the matter. (3) The promotion of N.C.O.s to commissioned rank does not depend entirely on Itili'e recommendation of officers commanding companies. They make recommendations to higher authority, but their recommendations are frequently reversed. Practical and written examinations are conduoted by the senior -'officers of the training staff, at which all X.C.O.s must qualify 'before being eligible for appointment. The grading of N.C.O.s in order of priority i for vancancies for commissions rests entirely in the hands of the senior officers of the training staff.